CHURCH FOLK ARCHITECTURE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the review of the current state of objects of church folk architecture in Ukraine, in particular, wooden architecture. It is shown that church folk architecture is a historical and cultural phenomenon that formed in the course of universal civilization development and, as insufficiently studied field, it represents a rich ground for new researches. The subject of church folk architecture in the context of the history of Ukrainian culture will remain relevant at all times. Traditions of construction and arrangement of churches are based on boundless creative power of the Ukrainian people, their wide construction experience, refined artistic taste and natural ability for knowledge acquiring. Church construction occupies the brightest and widely represented page in the history of traditional wooden architecture. Church architecture differs from all other types of architecture by the fact that it conveys a nationwide force of the culture of an individual nation associated with its innermost and precious convictions and hopes. Ukraine is exceptionally rich in wooden architecture objects. In total there are about 3,000 wooden religious structures on the territory of Ukraine, which are mainly of the XVII-XIX centuries. Wooden churches in different regions of Ukraine differ from each other, but there are more similarities than differences between them. Traditional wooden architecture is a significant part of Ukrainian culture and largely determines its national peculiarity. The expansion of stone construction, the change in artistic tastes and architectural styles contributed to the disappearance of traditional wooden buildings over time. The history of wooden churches is poorly explored and mostly architects, but not historians, are interested therein. The exact period of occurrence of wooden churches on the territory of Ukraine is unknown. Most likely, wooden churches existed before Christianity as pagan sanctuaries. One of the earliest written records of wooden houses of worship in Ukraine was the reference to the wooden church of Ilya on Podol in Kiev, which was built in the first half of the X century. Information about wooden church construction appears more often since the XI century. Prince Yaroslav the Wise built a large five-tier church over the grave of Boris and Gleb in 1020-1026. People found out more about the religious structures in Ukraine already in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Foreigners who traveled around Ukraine at that time appreciated samples of wooden architecture in Ukraine and emphasized the high artistic and creative level of Ukrainian architects. Ancient houses of worship which preserved until today reflect not only architectural and constructional traditions, but also allow for understanding of the spiritual world of people of that historical epoch, their world view and creative preferences. The list of objects of wooden architecture claiming for the title of monuments of world significance includes eight churches on the territory of Ukraine. The decision to introduce these unique Ukrainian wooden churches of the Carpathian region into the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites was made at the UNESCO Session in Cambodia at the end of June 2013. Religious structures have undergone a difficult path of development and accumulated the features of pagan sanctuaries, Byzantine Orthodox churches and building traditions of folk architects. Studying of church folk architecture requires dealing with many unresolved issues, especially those relating to evolution, origin of certain forms and relationship with stone architecture, but at the same time it ensures generation of new assumptions and hypotheses which allow to take a fresh look at already known theses, issues and phenomena.